_______Not that I'm suggesting that there is anything whatsoever wrong with the earnestness for earnestness sake...Rod Mickleburgh has a solid 'B-List' of Canada Day songs up over at his place....Here.

After 17 years as an MLA and many years in cabinet, George Abbott is no longer a member of the BC Liberal Party that he once sought to lead.

"I made a decision not to renew [my membership]," he told The Tyee. "It wasn't a dramatic and instantaneous rip-up-the-card-and-burn-it kind of thing. This is something I've thought about for awhile."...

Last Thursday we noticed that Mr. Palmer of the VSun and the current Clarklandian Minister pretty much simultaneously came up with the 'idea' of taking the health care researcher firing mess to the Ombudsperson instead of setting up a public inquiry.

...B.C. NDP Leader John Horgan argued the province’s new ombudsperson, Jay Chalke, a former assistant deputy minister of justice who starts on July 2, would be in the position of investigating his former staff.

“I think that’s a pretty difficult start to a new job,” Horgan said. “It’s not fair to the individuals or the office.”...

And how did the 'Dean' of the Lotuslandian Legislative gallery respond, almost immediately, in his next column the following day (i.e. Friday)?

Thusly:...The ombudsman, as noted here Thursday, has all the powers needed to get to the bottom things: summon witnesses, take testimony under oath, seek documents and so forth. The office is independent of government and reports directly to the legislature. And if past practice is any guide, an independent officer of the legislature can get the answers in a matter of months if not weeks, unlike public inquiries, which can drag on for years.

But the office is in transition, with outgoing ombudsman Kim Carter preparing to step down and her successor, Jay Chalke, not scheduled to take up a six-year term until July 1.

He comes highly recommended by both parties in the legislature. The New Democrats and the B.C. Liberals on the selection committee last month signed off unanimously on a report that said he has “an extensive background in … the conduct of fair and independent investigations.”

Sounds like an ironclad testimonial. But as the New Democrats among others pointed out, Chalke has served for the past few years as an assistant deputy in the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.

The ministry would likely be drawn into any inquiry because of the outstanding question of who decided to put that business into the press release about the fired health workers being under police investigation.

In light of that concern, Chalke could chose to delegate the investigation to the deputy ombudsman or another official, as is permitted under the legislation for his office.

Before getting to that point, he would first have to agree that the office should take on the matter, and he can’t be asked to do that until he takes up his duties later next week. He could refuse, after concluding that this mess was the last thing he needs as the new watchdog on the block.

The Ombudsperson Act does say that the “the legislative assembly or any of its committees may at any time refer a matter to the ombudsperson for investigation and report.”

In that event, the ombudsman must 1) investigate and 2) report back. So if the government really wanted to engage the office, it could proceed by bringing in a motion when the house sits July 13...

Gosh.

Notice how that wee little matter of a potential conflict of interest was deftly swept under the rug by the good Mr. Palmer.

Regardless...

By Sunday that noted deep thinker and all around deep sea 'both-sides-do-it' diver, Mr. Smyth of The Province, went out of his way to try and turn the three-day-old 'Ombuddy Solution' into conventional wisdom:

...Watch for the government to appoint provincial ombudsman Jay Chalke to investigate and produce a public report. It’s not the full public inquiry critics are demanding, but Chalke has the power to subpoena documents and witnesses.

The announcement of such an inquiry may come soon — before the legislature resumes sitting for a rare summer session starting July 13...

Sure Mr. Chalke has the 'power'.

But here's the thing...

Would the Clarklandians, and more specifically, Attorney General Ms. Suzanne Anton, actually let him wield it, especially if his preliminary investigations led him to the 'Executive Council' (i.e. the Clarklandian inner sanctum)?

Reader GWest sent us to the heart of that matter's darkness in the actual Ombudsperson's Act.

Attorney General may restrict investigative powers

18 (1) The Ombudsperson must not enter any premises and must not require any information or answer to be given or any document or thing to be produced if the Attorney General certifies that entering the premises, giving the information, answering the question or producing the document or thing might

(a) interfere with or impede the investigation or detection of an offence,

(b) result in or involve the disclosure of deliberations of the Executive Council, or

(c) result in or involve the disclosure of proceedings of the Executive Council or a committee of it, relating to matters of a secret or confidential nature and that the disclosure would be contrary or prejudicial to the public interest.

(2) The Ombudsperson must report each certificate of the Attorney General to the Legislative Assembly not later than in the Ombudsperson's next annual report.

Do you see what's really going on here now?________There's a Club?....You bet there is.Up next...The public inquiries that Mr. Palmer did NOT tell you about when he wrote the original 'Ombuddy Solution' column...Stay tuned...

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Both were published today, Thursday June 25th, in the VSun (sans time stamp so I'm not entirely sure who was first as I'm just catching up now, at 7pm, due to busy sci-geek day).

Here's a bit from the 'double-happ(il)y' column by Mr. Palmer under the header 'Public Inquiry not always the best option':...Happily, there are other options for getting answers and holding the government to account. The keys are independence, coupled with the ability to seek documents, summon witnesses, take testimony under oath and then to write a report that lets the chips fall where they may.

The independent officers of the legislature have the power to do all that and they exercise those powers whenever the need arises. They do so without the spectacle of public hearings and report back to the legislature in timely fashion.

Granted they sometimes incur substantial legal billings as well, though rarely to the extent of a public inquiry. In most instances, they complete their work on budget and in a matter of months.

Mindful of those possibilities, there have been suggestions — from Health Minister Terry Lake among others — to call in the auditor general on the health firings.

In an open letter to Lake Wednesday, seven fired researchers and the sister of an eighth who killed himself expressed a “strong preference” against the auditor general because of the office’s role in passing on the whistleblower complaint that led to the firings in the first place.

Happily there is another option, namely the provincial ombudsman. The leading precedent for that office to inquire into allegations of government wrongdoing was set back in the 1980s, when then ombudsman Stephen Owen reached some damning findings on political interference in the awarding of a pub licence on Knight Street in Vancouver....

Terry Lake told reporters Thursday that a probe into the botched firings of eight health researchers by the ombudsperson’s office is one way to conduct an independent inquiry without spending too much money or taking too much time.

Lake said asking for an independent watchdog to investigate the file would also address any conflict that exists between having members of the civil service, who were involved in the 2012 firings, continue to decide what information about the case can be released publicly.

“The office of the ombudsperson is potentially that,” Lake said, when asked Thursday...

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

...Fox News will not renew its contract with Sarah Palin, whose bombastic appearances have been a cable staple since the former Alaska governor’s failed run on John McCain’s ticket in the 2008 presidential election cycle. When asked for comment, a Fox News spokesperson confirmed the network had amicably parted ways with the governor on June 1...

From their open letter to current Clarklandian Health minister Mr. Terry Lake:

...It is our strong preference that the inquiry not be conducted by the Auditor General or any other part of government, given that the Auditor General and many other agencies of government were directly involved in the events that led to the 2012 firings. However, if the inquiry is conducted under the auspices of the Auditor General, the inquiry should be stand‐alone and as independent as possible. The inquiry should report to the House and be mandated to release its report, without redactions, to the public at the same time as it is provided to the House...

A fund promising to cure all our financial woes promised by Premier Christy Clark in her election campaign two years ago will finally see the light of day just before the next provincial election.

In a mandate letter to the minister of finance, Christy Clark instructs Mike de Jong to table her promised Prosperity Fund in the legislature in the Spring of 2017.

That is also when the next provincial election will be held...

And, just in case you missed the follow-up misdirection...

To get the immaculate deception ball really rolling there is going to be a one day legislative bacchanal in mid-summer so that the Clarklandians can tell us that we will soon be rolling in so many duodecillions of dough that we won't know what to do with it all.

Heckfire.

Maybe then there will even be private school for every kid forever!

And a $10 million dollar house for every family!

And more.

So much more!

________At the beginning of the week I wondered what 'Big Shiny' bauble would be rolled out in an effort to turn the proMedia herd away from the public inquiry business...As Grant G. pointed out pretty much immediately, this is most definitely it...Will it work?...Stay tuned.In case you would like a little bit of non-puffed-up local punditry Bloomberg has a pretty good wrap-up of the 'challenges' still facing the Petronas project...And will we get to see the details of the deal before the bacchanal, which will likely really be designed to lock us into the the thing for the 10 million sparkle pony lifetimes?...Well, Cookie Dough Mike promises that we will...But what Mr. de Jong says and what he actually does are sometimes two very different things.

From the GStraight's Carlito Pablo reporting on today's developments in the Laura Robinson v. John Furlong civil trial:

...Addressing Furlong, (Robinson's lawyer Bryan) Baynham said that nobody among Olympics officials knew about Furlong’s past as a missionary.

“You’re dead wrong,” Furlong countered, saying “lots of people at Vanoc” knew that he was once in Burns Lake, B.C., where he taught physical education to school children as part of his missionary work.

Furlong maintained: “It was well known.”...

Interestingly, Mr. Gary Mason, he of the The Globe, who also ghost-wrote Mr. Furlong's 2011 autobiography/memoir, apparently did not know this well known thing.

Or, at the very least, Mr. Furlong did not tell Mr. Mason of this well known thing according to a 2012 Tyee piece written by Bob Mackin. Here is Mr. Mackin's lede:

A story by Ontario journalist Laura Robinson published by the Georgia Straight on Sept. 27 (2012)alleges that several of Vancouver 2010 Olympic CEO John Furlong's ex-students have filed affidavits claiming he abused them while he taught at Prince George Catholic school in the 1970s.

The story also claims significant inconsistencies in Furlong's post-Olympic memoir, Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country.

The February 2011 book was co-written with Globe and Mail columnist Gary Mason.

Furlong has not immediately responded to an interview request, but Mason told The Tyee via email:

"I have been asked if John Furlong ever mentioned working in Burns Lake for several years before 1974 during the course of our interviews for Patriot Hearts. I can say he did not..."...

_______And, just in case you missed it... Mr. Mason himself has more recently written about the five (or maybe more; see more on today's revelations in court at the CPablo linked-to story, above) years between when Mr. Furlong first actually came to Canada and when Mr. Furlong said he first came to Canada in his memoir....It was (one of) the later date(s) that the good Mr. Mason dutifully wrote in the published memoir...According to Mr. Mason, writing in the Globe (i.e. not the memoir), those years included the brief period Mr. Furlong spent time in Burns Lake...You can read about Mr. Mason's more recent non-memoirish writings...Here.In my opinion, Merv Adey has written a very well-balanced piece on the local press coverage of the trial...Here.

...On Tuesday, (current Finance Minister Michael) de Jong told reporters he takes responsibility for the way the investigation was handled (when he was Health Minister in 2012), but he doesn’t support the many calls that have been made for public inquiry.

“What is the question that is to be answered by an inquiry, that generally will require spending millions upon millions of dollars?”

De Jong says he’s confident proper procedures are now in place to make sure employees are treated fairly in all circumstances...

Sure thing Mr. de Jong.

But what if, as it would appear, actually following 'procedures' and 'procedurals' had nothing whatsoever to do with any of this?

...Because a letter from Postmedia's man-about-town Gord Fisher to all Pacific Newspaper Group (i.e. VSun and Province) staff certainly suggests that this just might be 'The End'.

Here's an excerpt via the other daily that kinda/sorta has a presence 'round here:

...The reality is, regardless of the exact mix of digital, print and subscription revenue we need to survive, there is only one path for us to follow in the immediate term. And that is, as I have reinforced in all of my communications, we must continue to become a more efficient operation.

Today we are announcing another implementation of a Voluntary Staff Reduction Program (VSRP) at PNG. All employees, including management staff, will be eligible for the program. Nigel Miller, our Vice President of Human Resources, will provide further specific details about the program in the coming days...

_______One can only wonder...If the Main St. closing had been super-secretly, double-probationally leaked by an uber-important Wizard at 12th and Cambie, would the 'reporter' concerned have known about it then?Link to the Keef''s latest bit of Twittmachine-assisted baiting of the 'hysterical' citizenry is here... Comments are most interesting, especially the one from the Dean that was actually kind of funny but still did not address the actual, you know....Facts.

Monday, June 22, 2015

The local Lotuslandian proMedia herd, including (gasp!) NW's Mr. Leslie really has turned, as was pointed out by reader Lew in the comments on the weekend:

Health Minister Terry Lake appeared on 'NW with Sean Leslie (Friday)... afternoon to not answer questions and stated that he doesn’t know how much the government has paid in settlements to some of the fired researchers because that’s something that’s done by his deputy working with legal counsel and other civil servants. Now, a minister who doesn’t know that information on such a sensitive and explosive file, or a minister who does know that information and publicly says he doesn’t, isn’t fit to hold office. He’s fit to be a BC Liberal, but not to occupy an office that belongs to the citizens of BC.

He allowed that he’s looked at the case from “every which way I can” and essentially said there’s nothing there that he wouldn’t want people to know except what actually happened. He goes on to say he won’t put the reputations of those who made the decisions at risk or cause them “undue stress” because that’s what was done to the fired researchers, and that would be two wrongs trying to make a right. So the current minister says there was definitely wrongdoing under the minister at the time and he knows who it is, but would rather have the public pick a name and guess who it was, thereby putting the reputation of everyone even remotely involved at risk whether they’re guilty or not. And the deputy minister that signed the dismissal letters says he knows there is blame to be laid, just not on him. He won’t name names either.

The scary thing is that you can pretty much pick any ministry of the current government and you’ll find a scandal and a double talking minister that claims no knowledge of what those sneaky civil servants are up to. It’s time those sneaky devils started speaking up to defend themselves.

So.

Given all that, (and the just published poll thingy with the sliding approval numbers for M. Figurehead) you can be sure that the wizards are doing their best to find something new and shiny to distract the herd.

And it will have to be something big.

After all that business with the hands-free driving punishment-improvement project/website from Ms. Always Campaigning went absolutely nowhere.

The real question is - Will the new shiny bauble be both big AND negative?

Or will it be something to do with rescuing lost canines from the meat grinder in far away lands?

Or will it be both?

As for actually governing?

Well...

You know.

___________Had a good laugh when Ms. Anton breathlessly told the MoCo's Kirk Williams last week that her hands-free penalization project was so popular with the public that the website, after a massive wizard-assisted PR push, had attracted 990 visitors in a single day...Why was I laughing?...Because that actually rivals the numbers for this little F-Troop list blog...Gosh...The magic!

Enough of the obfuscating, weaseling, dissimulation, doubletalk, verbal subterfuge, stonewalling and other distasteful conduct that hangs like a miasma over the shameful events surrounding the precipitous sacking of nine ministry of health employees in 2012...

Gosh.

The language.

****

Now.

Two things....

First, no Keef Report tweets about how 'hysterical' those calling for an inquiry are (at least not yet).

Second, none of this precludes the Fazilless VSun from endorsing Clarkland all over again 23 months from now.

______And as for all the self-congratulatory back-slapping going on in the Club these (very recent) days?...Well...Maybe the time has come to give Andrew MacLeod a free membership and full voting rights...

Saturday, June 13, 2015

And it would appear the Tai Chi folks are not particularly happy with our fine premier and the latest of her so-called 'jokes':

The Taoist Tai Chi Society has contacted Premier Christy Clark’s office, asking for a statement to clarify that the Society is in no way involved with a controversy over a yoga event on Vancouver’s Burrard Bridge.

The premier on Thursday tweeted a photo of herself posing in front of a Taoist Tai Chi® location, with a caption that said: “Hey Yoga Haters – bet you can’t wait for international Tai Chi day.”

The tweet and ensuing media coverage have led to members of the public contacting us to ask what the Society’s connection is with the premier and the yoga event. In fact, there is no connection.

“We would like to make clear that we were unaware that this photo had been taken or that the premier had even stopped by our location, which was closed at the time,” Jim Nicholson, a BC spokesman for Fung Loy Kok Taoist Tai Chi, said Friday...

_______Just in case you missed it...The photo-op assisted effort that threw the Tai Chi folks under the bus post #OmTheBridge can be seen....Here.Other so-called 'joke' sessions involving the good Ms. Clark from days of yore?....How about is one from a 'pre-Drex 'n the MILF' session with another set of 'shock jocks' entirely...

A Victoria lawyer says the provincial government is failing to use all the money it collects for legal aid.

Michael Mulligan says he has proof that the province is short-changing B.C.'s Legal Services Society, which helps people who can't afford a lawyer.

Mulligan says documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that last year the province raised close to $172 million through a special legal services tax, in addition to $14 million from Ottawa for legal aid. However the B.C. government only spent $75 million dollars of that money on the program.

"So the net result is that the provincial government is failing to provide more than $100 million a year of this money," he said...

______The actual interview between Mr. Mulligan and Stephen Quinn that this piece was built on is....Here.Lawyerly types that stop by here occasionally (and I know there are a few of you) and/or a certain former politician-type person who had something to do with the original legislation....Feel free to weigh in...Either in the comments or by Email (pacificgazette at yahoo dot c+a).

And now Integrity BC's Dermod Travis has started to flesh the list out a little in the GStraight:...When it comes to the health ministry firings, five names spring to mind, but former health minister Margaret MacDiarmid isn't one of them.

She pulled the trigger and takes the rap for it, but sworn in as health minister only the day before, it's doubtful she was involved in the process. At that point her knowledge would be limited to briefing notes and what might have been said around the cabinet table.

Finance minister Mike de Jong was health minister from March 2011 until September 4, 2012. The suspensions happened under his watch.

Graham Whitmarsh, deputy minister of health until June 2013, played a key role.

John Dyble, deputy minister of health (June 2009 to March 2011) and today deputy minister to the premier and head of the public service was clearly involved.

The premier's communications director at the time, Sara MacIntyre, was no wallflower. It's a pretty safe bet she had something to say about something related to the firings.

Given his position Boessenkool can't have been a mere bystander through the whole affair, particularly with an election a year away. He was either part of the decision-making process or was focused with MacIntyre on preparing for any fallout...

{snippety doo-dah}

...Boessenkool was brought in from Alberta to be Premier Christy Clark's new chief of staff.

According to his biography, Boessenkool was a "senior policy advisor and strategist to Conservative Party of Canada Leader Stephen Harper" and "played senior strategic roles in the 2004 and 2006 Conservative campaigns."

He was also a registered lobbyist for three pharmaceutical firms in Ottawa between 2004 and 2010, including Pfizer Canada...

Hmmmmmm....

Government mixing with corporatism to screw people over with dictatorial decrees (and actions and deeds).

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

First, the jab from the good Mr. Palmer of the VSun:...The police repeatedly asked the government investigating team for that reputed evidence of conflict of interest, inappropriate contracting procedures, improper handling of confidential data and other alleged criminal wrongdoing (relating to the fired health care workers). They never got it.

“I’m not aware of the RCMP coming to the ministry of health and saying please give us this information and the ministry not co-operating,” he replied. “That is not my understanding whatsoever.”

Again, note the choice of words. He’s not aware. It is not his understanding. One is left to conclude the minister only knows what he’s been told, after not asking too many followup questions...

Then comes the upper-cut:

...If (Minister) Lake wanted to know more, he could interview Wendy Taylor, the senior public servant who headed the internal investigation for the government. Three of his own assistant deputy ministers — Barbara Walman, Manjit Sidhu and Lindsay Kislock — handled aspects of the matter as well...

{snippety doo-dah}

...Indeed, if placed under oath, Taylor and the others could make a plausible starter set of witnesses for a public inquiry into this affair...

Ooooh-wee.

Namin' names and kinda/sorta/almost (but not quite) calling for a public inquiry with people being placed under an oath and everything.

Gosh.

If he keeps this up, the next thing you know Mr. Palmer will publishing a potential witness 'Top 40' list.

__________And why am I using a sporting analogy for a columnist's coverage of the BC Liberal government's unwarranted willful destruction of healthworkers' lives and reputations?...Because last weekend that particular columnist told us this was all a 'game'....Hopefully he no longer sees it that way...Heckfire, perhaps he and his might want to consider setting up a 'war room' with all kinds of in-depth info on the various and sundry concerned tacked up on the walls...Naw...They would never do a thing like that for something that actually matters...Right?

Sunday, June 07, 2015

VICTORIA - The Ministry of Health has asked the RCMP to investigate allegations of inappropriate conduct, contracting and data-management practices involving ministry employees and drug researchers.

Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid said today that the ministry has provided the RCMP with interim results of an internal investigation, which was supported by a lead investigator from the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Citizens' Services and Open Government. It examined contracting and research grant practices between ministry employees and researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria.

"We take all allegations of this nature very seriously," she said. "I have instructed the ministry to continue to take whatever steps are necessary to respond to these matters thoroughly. We must ensure confidence is maintained in the integrity of the public service to execute its responsibilities in a manner that meets the high standards of conduct expected by the public."

The formal investigation, which commenced in May 2012, examined financial controls, contracting, data management and employee/contractor relationships, and produced evidence of potential conflict of interest, and inappropriate contract management and data access with external drug researchers...

...After media reports that the comptroller-general’s office was still engaged in a two-year-old investigation of the contract irregularities, the police reopened their file (which they had closed months earlier due to a lack of information from the government) and reached out to (the government's) lead investigator Dan Peck.

“Completing this file remains my investigation unit’s priority,” advised Peck. But when police asked “what his instincts were in regards to potential criminal offences, he said that he had not yet uncovered any clear evidence of a crime.”

This after two years of comprehensive investigation by the office that serves as the government’s fraud prevention branch. When the comptroller finally did wrap up its work this year, the findings were delivered to police.

“Any further determination will be up to them” a government representative said this week. Police declined to comment. And so the game continues.(stuff in brackets mine, inserted for clarity)

Hmmmm...

Perhaps Mr. Palmer could tell us, his dear readers, how (and why), exactly, is this a 'game'?

______For those who have may have forgotten (thanks Lew!)... Andrew McLeod of The Tyee had this one pretty much nailed down, based on a Dipper-obtained FOI, back in February...

Thursday, June 04, 2015

From today's FOI-assisted report on the continuing saga of the wrongful firing of provincial healthcare workers by Rob Shaw in the VSun:

...The records, obtained by The Vancouver Sun through the federal Access to Information Act, show that the B.C. government repeatedly pointed to an RCMP investigation over several years, while at the same time doing virtually nothing to inform police about the case and failing to provide any evidence of a crime.

“Despite inferences in the media that the RCMP has undertaken an investigation or received information from the Province, this has not been the case,” wrote Const. Dean Miller from the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime section, in a late 2014 report. “No tangible evidence or reports related to the allegations have been handed over. As such, no investigation has been initiated.”...

NDP critic Adrian Dix said the documents “show a government that not just misled the public but misled the police. And it’s a very serious thing.”...

This firing of health workers stuff and then pretending that it was done because criminal acts may have occurred when no such evidence has been provided to anyone, including the police, is really, really bad.

And, just in case any Lotuslandian proMedia club members are getting ready to pull their punches on this one, yet again, they may wish to remember that this anti-democratic codswallopanarianism destroyed lives.

OK?

_____And, just to be very clear here...The records concerned (which can be found here) were obtained by the VSun through a federal (i.e. not a provincial) FOI request...